Take the Long Way Home
by Soozen
Summary: Haruhi puts her schoolwork before a lot of things, and it eventually comes back around to her. Mori x Haruhi, angst


_"When the time comes to settle down  
Who's to blame if you're not around?  
You took the long way home…."_  
-Take the Long Way Home by Supertramp

* * *

It wasn't even nine in the morning, and Haruhi Fujioka felt- no, she knew- that today was not a good day. This wasn't even going to be a halfway decent day; this was a "call in sick and hide beneath the covers" kind of day.

It had started out normal, just as every other day had. She'd woken up at seven, gone for a run, showered, dressed and had made herself breakfast. In about fifteen minutes, she'd have to leave to go to work at the law office she'd been practicing at for the past five years or so. It was going to be a normal, work filled day.

But then she read the newspaper. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary; she read the paper every morning, as she ate her breakfast. Mostly she read just the front page news and the politics, but today, she happened to glance at the gossip column. The very first story had been Mori.

Mori's wedding, to be exact.

Haruhi immediately felt sick, looking at the photo that accompanied the article. There was Mori, looking so very handsome in his tuxedo, smiling down at a woman in a wedding gown, and she was smiling back at him. She had to spit out the bit of breakfast she'd been chewing.

It'd been years since she'd seen Mori, since she'd last spoken to him. They had stayed together after his proposal, so many years ago, back in high school. He brought up marriage a few times after that; twice when she'd been in high school, and once when in law school. And, every time, she told him to wait; they were in love, they were together, what did a few more years matter? They would marry, just when it was the best time for her.

Apparently, those few more years had mattered to Mori, and Haruhi would never forget the last time he brought up marriage.

She'd been in her first year of law school, her first semester, really, and Mori asked her, once again, to marry him. And Haruhi turned him down, once again.

"When?" Mori had asked.

Haruhi had been a bit agitated that day; there'd been a test the next day that she didn't feel fully prepared for, and had been trying to study when he'd asked her. "We've been through this; you know when."

"When?" He had pushed.

"Once I have my career going, Mori!" she snapped a little. "You know this!"

They had been living together for almost three years. It had been cheaper, for her to live off campus, in an apartment (a suite, really) that Mori had insisted upon paying for.

"How long?"

Frustrated, she'd dropped her highlighter. "What does it matter?"

It had taken him several moments to answer, and when he did, there had been a slight sadness to his voice that she'd rarely heard. "I've waited for you for years, Haruhi. Will you really keep me waiting longer?"

Haruhi sighed. She didn't want to fight with him; couldn't he understand just how important this was to her? "I have to do this, Mori. I can't just give this up now."

And he'd just silently nodded, and left the kitchen. Haruhi had turned back to her studying, and didn't look up again until almost an hour later, when Mori came back in. He had several packed bags with him.

"Where are you going?" Haruhi asked, slightly panicked. She knew there were no trips he had to go on, nothing….

He didn't speak at first, just put a key- his key to the apartment- on the counter by the stove. "The rent is paid for the next three months. You'll have to find someplace new by then."

Her eyes had widened. "What- Mori, why are you-"

He cut her off, a shocking action in itself. Mori rarely, if ever interrupted anyone. "You've put your work before me, as you've done for years. I'm not waiting for you any longer."

Haruhi had just stared. Was he really doing this to her? Was he really going to make her choose between the career she had dreamed about and had been working for since high school? "Mori, don't do this; you are so important to me; I love you. I-it's just, I've wanted this for so long, it's only a bit longer."

Mori had just shaken his head. "It's always a bit longer. Another semester, another year; it's just more important to you, it always has been." He'd paused. "I'm not going to be second in your life any longer." He'd begun to pick up his things.

"Don't go! Let's- just wait. Let's talk about this; let's talk about this tomorrow."

He'd paused again. "Tonight."

"What?"

"Let's talk tonight."

Tonight? She had that test tomorrow; she was hardly prepared! "But I-"

"Tonight," he'd said again, forcefully. "Forget your damn test; let's talk tonight."

She'd swallowed. Forget her test? How could he ask that of her? He knew just how important it was; she had to pass this test to pass the class.

"Mori, I-I can't."

He had simply nodded, gathered up his bags, and left. He hadn't responded any time she pleaded with him to stay, hadn't said anything at all. He'd just silently left.

That was the last time she'd seen him.

She had called him several times afterwards, trying to patch things up. But Mori had refused. It was over.

And now, seeing his photo, seeing him happily married, it made her feel sick. That woman, his bride- that was supposed to be her.

It wasn't fair.

She felt her stomach churn once more, and ran to the bathroom.

Today would be the first day she'd ever call out of work.

* * *

Eh, Haruhi had it coming.

Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave constructive criticisms.


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